Principal Engineer/Engineering Manager

Acxiom Limited; Remote; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A customer intelligence company is seeking a Principal Engineer/Engineering Manager to lead engineering teams and shape an AI-powered product. This role offers the opportunity to contribute to system design, mentor engineers, and drive technical solutions in a collaborative environment. Ideal candidates have extensive Python knowledge, experience with microservices, and strong leadership skills. This position is primarily remote but allows working from the London office.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a senior technical leader in an Agile/Scrum environment.
• Experience working with remote and geographically distributed teams.
• Background in advertising/marketing tech is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Shape the architecture and engineering design of the product.
• Lead by example in technical delivery and engineering best practices.
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and career development to team members.

Skills

Strong knowledge of Python

Microservice architectures

Experience building web applications

Agile/Scrum environment

Strong communication skills

Tools

AWS

React

LangGraph

Job description

We are seeking a Principal Engineer/Engineering Manager to lead one of the core engineering teams within Planning Agent, our AI‑powered advertising planning platform used daily by IPG agency teams. You will help shape and grow a product with AI at its core, using agents to power an AI assistant advertising planners throughout their workflow.

You’ll lead a cross‑functional team of 8–10 remote engineers and data scientists, distributed across multiple countries in Europe, with a significant presence in Poland and Ukraine. Our tech stack includes Python with a React frontend, deployed on AWS in Kubernetes clusters, using GCP for Gemini and LangGraph for agent orchestration. While you’ll have the resources of a large organisation, this team operates with a startup mentality: embracing rapid iteration, a cross‑functional mindset, and end‑to‑end ownership of features.

The role can be tailored to your strengths, whether as an Individual Contributor, a Manager, or a mix of both. You’ll lead system design, make architecture decisions, and guide technical direction while balancing hands‑on implementation with enabling the team to deliver effectively. Depending on your focus, you may spend more time coding and implementing complex features, or more time on coaching, mentoring, and driving delivery. In all cases, you’ll conduct code reviews, contribute to high‑impact features, and foster a high‑performance engineering culture.

This position reports to the VP, Software Engineering, Planning. It will be primarily remote, though you are also welcome to work in our London office.

Key Responsibilities

• Shape the architecture and engineering design of the product and its interactions with other applications and services
• Lead by example in technical delivery and engineering best practices
• Work with the Product team and other Tech Leads to execute the roadmap and translate requirements into actionable engineering tasks
• Discuss technical solutions with the development team, communicate goals, and facilitate execution
• Develop and expand product capabilities, from AI‑driven features to core full‑stack enhancements
• Lead functional design and code reviews, providing constructive feedback
• Coordinate with QA to achieve automated testing in support of continuous delivery
• Build and maintain a high‑performance team and an innovative culture
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and career development to team members
• Have a results‑driven personality, high enthusiasm, energy, and confidence

Minimal Requirements

• Proven experience as a senior technical leader in an Agile/Scrum environment
• Strong knowledge of Python and microservice architectures
• Experience building web applications, preferably including React
• Familiar with software development methodologies, scaled system design, and best practices
• Knowledge of AWS and cloud‑native architectures; familiarity with LangGraph a plus
• Strong communication skills, able to explain technical problems clearly to varied audiences
• Excellent organisational and technical writing skills
• Experience working with remote and geographically distributed teams a plus
• Background in advertising/marketing tech a plus

Acxiom is a customer intelligence company that provides data‑driven solutions to enable the world’s best marketers to better understand their customers to create better experiences and business growth. A leader in customer data management, identity, and the ethical use of data for more than 50 years, Acxiom now helps thousands of clients and partners around the globe work together to create millions of better customer experiences, every day. Acxiom is a registered trademark of Acxiom LLC and is part of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG). For more information, visit Acxiom.com.

Seniority level

Mid‑Senior level

Employment type

Full‑time

Job function

Information Technology and Analyst

Industries

Data Infrastructure and Analytics, Information Services, and IT System Data Services